Since taking office in 2024, the federation has accelerated its work to move field hockey to a home-and-away league system. Çakır said the men’s league has already made the switch, and the women’s league is partly moving in the same direction. “This season we want to move to matches played in a double round-robin format,” he said.
More Fields, More Clubs
Çakır said clubs will compete in both field hockey and indoor hockey this season, with a busy match calendar throughout the year. In field hockey, the top two teams will qualify for European cup competitions. In indoor hockey, only the champion will play in Europe.
He said the country now has 9 fields nationwide. “We had 7 fields, one in Ankara and one in Muğla. We now have 2 more. That is not enough. We are working on facilities in Istanbul, Rize, Ordu, Bolu, Zonguldak and Diyarbakır as well. We are consulting with our ministry, and all of them will be built in turn.”
Çakır also said the federation’s administration building will open in Ankara. He added that the federation plans to move into its building at the Gölbaşı facilities in about a month. “We want to hold the play-off finals at our facility in Ankara, where the opening of our field and our administrative building will also take place, and close the season in style.”
Growing Competition in Domestic Leagues
Çakır noted that competition in both field and indoor hockey leagues is growing. Gaziantep’s Volkan Group Club won the championship in both indoor and field hockey last year. It continues to invest and has signed players from abroad this season. Gaziantep Polisgücü is also continuing its investments.
In the women’s game, Haydarpaşa will go to the European Cup, and Alanya Stars Hockey remains strong. Muğla Women’s Hockey Team and Istanbul Youth Hockey Team are also performing well. In the men’s division, Konya Selçuklu is always among the contenders. Çakır said the play-offs will be full of tough, closely contested matches.
Youth Success and European Titles
Çakır recalled that the federation was awarded hosting rights for the European Hockey Federation’s U16 European Championship. “With our men’s U16 team, we beat Austria, the champions of the last two editions, on home ground and reached the European title. Our girls’ U16 team finished third.”
He said the men’s U16 national team is in a training camp in Gaziantep with 54 athletes. The women’s national team will go into camp in Alanya in the coming weeks. In indoor hockey, the U21 women’s national team finished third at the European Championship. Çakır said the federation is pleased that women have previously won European bronze medals in indoor hockey. “With our U21 women’s national team, we are targeting the championship at the 2027 Indoor Hockey European Championship.”
Olympic Goal: 2032
Çakır said the Olympic goal remains in place and that 2032 is the realistic target. “Our men’s and women’s national teams have moved up to Championship 2 in line with our Olympic goals. Our aim is to push the qualifiers toward the Olympics. Of course, if we can, we want to finish in the top two and move up to Championship 1. Every Turkish hockey player, from the president to the administrator, from the athlete to the coach, dreams of taking part in the Olympics. Our target was 2028, but the most sensible choice is 2032. Our U16 champion team will reach full maturity by 2032. Now that we have combined players aged 16 and under and 21 and under, we have set 2032 as a realistic target.”
Çakır concluded: “There are 12 countries at the Olympics, each of which has a century of hockey history behind it. We want to make that dream come true with the right work and go down in history as a country that did it.”
